I get my tannins from oak chips and black tea. I tried Earl Grey last time, and it turned out to be my favorite so far, at one bag per gallon. You can't taste the tea, but the bergamot gives the cider a slight floral/citrus note. Pretty subtle, but it's there if you look for it.

That's pretty interesting - how much did you use?

I think 1 bag of black tea per 1 gallon of juice is the minimum. I'm going to try double that on my next batch.

I'll get a tube of frozen apple juice concentrate, follow directions for the amount of water necessary (48oz, IIRC), boil the water, add tea bags, let it sit until it cools off (maybe 30-45min), then mix in the concentrate, and add the whole thing to the rest of the juice. You want the tea to get overextracted. I squeeze the bags when I take them out.

For oak, I usually do 2oz / 5 gallon. Usually French oak. IIRC, it has more extractable tannin and lower vanillin than American oak.

HA - at two per gallon? 120. And how much water would I need to boil those in? Assuming 1/4 cup water per teabag minimum, I'd need about two gallons. I'd be the only guy around making tea in his kettle.

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Delmarva United Homebrewers - President by inverse coup - former president ousted himself.AHA Member since 2006BJCP Certified: B0958

Why is that? I use powdered grape tannin and it seems to work well. Why would tea be better?

Maybe he just likes it better.

That's what I'm trying to find out...what makes it better? I like using the powder becasue I can add to taste, kinda like using Sinamar for color. Seems like if you were using tea bags you'd have to make a guess at the right amount. I'd like to know why there is a preference for doing it that way.

Sometimes something is better because you have it when you need it. I wanted to make cider, my LHBS was an hour-and-a-half drive away, and I didn't feel like waiting for mail order. So I tried using tea, liked the cider I made with it, and kept using it.

I have absolutely no evidence that it's subjectively better than powdered tannin, except conjecture, and I guess that's a kind of evidence.

I keep a lot of tea on hand because I like to drink it, and I keep a lot of oak on hand also. If I can remember next time I'm at the LHBS I'll pick up some tannin powder and try it out. How much per gallon should I start with?

I've never tried tea, so I don't know if it is better. My statement was 60% convenience (my homebrew shop is 1 hour away, tea is in the pantry), 20% because I just don't like that most wine tannin is made from chestnut bark - not grapes, and 35% unjustified prejudice.

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Delmarva United Homebrewers - President by inverse coup - former president ousted himself.AHA Member since 2006BJCP Certified: B0958

I've never tried tea, so I don't know if it is better. My statement was 60% convenience (my homebrew shop is 1 hour away, tea is in the pantry), 20% because I just don't like that most wine tannin is made from chestnut bark - not grapes, and 35% unjustified prejudice.

I've never tried tea, so I don't know if it is better. My statement was 60% convenience (my homebrew shop is 1 hour away, tea is in the pantry), 20% because I just don't like that most wine tannin is made from chestnut bark - not grapes, and 35% unjustified prejudice.

115%. You really must have some extra unjustified prejudice.

Don't try to confuse the issue with science. Perhaps my reasons are not mutually exclusive?

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Delmarva United Homebrewers - President by inverse coup - former president ousted himself.AHA Member since 2006BJCP Certified: B0958

I've never tried tea, so I don't know if it is better. My statement was 60% convenience (my homebrew shop is 1 hour away, tea is in the pantry), 20% because I just don't like that most wine tannin is made from chestnut bark - not grapes, and 35% unjustified prejudice.

115%. You really must have some extra unjustified prejudice.

Don't try to confuse the issue with science. Perhaps my reasons are not mutually exclusive?